Cheap Line Conditioners = Degraded Sound?
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punkrockdude
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Cheap Line Conditioners = Degraded Sound?
I have a cheap Phonic PPC 9000E (european version) and I think it actually makes my recording i did last weekend flat/dull sounding. Anyone has any opinions or maybe you have had the same experience? Regards
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fossiltooth
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JohnDavisNYC
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Re: Cheap Line Conditioners = Degraded Sound?
NO.punkrockdude wrote:I have a cheap Phonic PPC 9000E (european version) and I think it actually makes my recording i did last weekend flat/dull sounding. Anyone has any opinions or maybe you have had the same experience? Regards
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punkrockdude
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I recorded a band with this power conditioner last year and that recording never sound right. Not kicky and "crunchy" sounding like stuff I've made after that project without it. This time I took this one out of the closet and thought that I probably just imagined that it sounded dull the last time I used. But now when I have used it to power my preamps (Line Audio Design OMP) I feel once again that ther music is not lively sounding.
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joel hamilton
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Everything makes a difference.
Everything.
Taken literally, every single thing make s a diference.
If it matters to YOU, it matters. If it does not matter to you, by what measure would you have to know you needed something else?
Such is the nature of perception. Do what you need to do to get it right.
In my own experiences, the power conditioner has been second only to the carpet color and the food I chose to eat that day... tying for last place on the "what would make this record better" chart that I just decided to make out of italian marble and mosaic tiles. that will be art.
That is just my experiences though. This post is not intended as sarcastic or condescending. I really mean it.
Everything.
Taken literally, every single thing make s a diference.
If it matters to YOU, it matters. If it does not matter to you, by what measure would you have to know you needed something else?
Such is the nature of perception. Do what you need to do to get it right.
In my own experiences, the power conditioner has been second only to the carpet color and the food I chose to eat that day... tying for last place on the "what would make this record better" chart that I just decided to make out of italian marble and mosaic tiles. that will be art.
That is just my experiences though. This post is not intended as sarcastic or condescending. I really mean it.
if it makes it sound worse, get rid of it and just use a power strip.
...or drop a few grand for something that will actually work.
...or start recording someplace with clean power and no grounding issues.
at any rate, it certainly doesn't seem very likely that a cheap-o power conditioner would cause your recording to sound flat and lifeless.
to paraphrase what fossiltooth said: going by the symptoms you cite, the problem probly lies elsewhere.
...or drop a few grand for something that will actually work.
...or start recording someplace with clean power and no grounding issues.
at any rate, it certainly doesn't seem very likely that a cheap-o power conditioner would cause your recording to sound flat and lifeless.
to paraphrase what fossiltooth said: going by the symptoms you cite, the problem probly lies elsewhere.
?What need is there to weep over parts of life? The whole of it calls for tears.? -- Seneca
here's what I would do. Get a cheap voltmeter or borrow one.
Stick the probes of that voltmeter into all of the power outlets of that thing and see what kind of numbers it's putting out.
Does it say 120V? 115? 110? 128?
Then stick the probes right into the wall socket itself and see what THEY say.
While the relative merits of well-regulated power sources etc etc can be debated until the cows come home, one thing that's pretty much a given for hugely affecting performance is line VOLTAGES.
Once over the summer it was a really hot day and I was practicing some guitar. Everything was working alright but my normally very nice-sounding rig ('60s tube echoplex into '64 fender outboard tube reverb into '65 Fender Deluxe) was just sounding a little anemic... something wasn't right. To the point where I actually put the rig aside "to be opened and inspected/repaired later" and went and grabbed another amp. This next very nice amp (a '61 Super) also sounded really anemic and shitty, and I was even getting some crossover distortion (a sign of mis-biased power tubes) even though I had just biased the amp up (and modified it so that it could be bias-adjusted) the week previous, so it dawned on me... I stuck the meter in the wall and it was only giving me 92 volts AC! The power grid was overly taxed, probably from a bunch of air conditioners on. I called the power company and they actually went and made an adjustment to a transformer somewhere and all was well and my stuff was sounding good again.
Most of the headaches people have with musical stuff chasing this or that sound, and some days it seems to have 'it' and some days it seems lacking, a lot of that I believe can be attributed to fluctuations in line voltage out of the wall.
So if your cheap power conditioner has something up with it where it's not giving the right voltages (or the voltages are fluctuating, or sagging under heavy load) then that would certainly go a long way towards explaining the lackluster performance of the rest of your audio gear.
But that kind of stuff is MEASURABLE so that makes it easy. If everything checks out fine and looks normal, then try taping over the logo and see if you can hypnotize yourself into believing it was a nice expensive unit, and then see if it still sounds different.
Stick the probes of that voltmeter into all of the power outlets of that thing and see what kind of numbers it's putting out.
Does it say 120V? 115? 110? 128?
Then stick the probes right into the wall socket itself and see what THEY say.
While the relative merits of well-regulated power sources etc etc can be debated until the cows come home, one thing that's pretty much a given for hugely affecting performance is line VOLTAGES.
Once over the summer it was a really hot day and I was practicing some guitar. Everything was working alright but my normally very nice-sounding rig ('60s tube echoplex into '64 fender outboard tube reverb into '65 Fender Deluxe) was just sounding a little anemic... something wasn't right. To the point where I actually put the rig aside "to be opened and inspected/repaired later" and went and grabbed another amp. This next very nice amp (a '61 Super) also sounded really anemic and shitty, and I was even getting some crossover distortion (a sign of mis-biased power tubes) even though I had just biased the amp up (and modified it so that it could be bias-adjusted) the week previous, so it dawned on me... I stuck the meter in the wall and it was only giving me 92 volts AC! The power grid was overly taxed, probably from a bunch of air conditioners on. I called the power company and they actually went and made an adjustment to a transformer somewhere and all was well and my stuff was sounding good again.
Most of the headaches people have with musical stuff chasing this or that sound, and some days it seems to have 'it' and some days it seems lacking, a lot of that I believe can be attributed to fluctuations in line voltage out of the wall.
So if your cheap power conditioner has something up with it where it's not giving the right voltages (or the voltages are fluctuating, or sagging under heavy load) then that would certainly go a long way towards explaining the lackluster performance of the rest of your audio gear.
But that kind of stuff is MEASURABLE so that makes it easy. If everything checks out fine and looks normal, then try taping over the logo and see if you can hypnotize yourself into believing it was a nice expensive unit, and then see if it still sounds different.
Ditto.toaster3000 wrote:i know that good power = better sound... but i wouldn't blame the power for a bad recording.....
john
There are several factors that could be the problem, one of them possibly your incoming AC. Take it out of the chain and see if the same outcome occurs. I doubt the phonic is really offering any power conditioning. Most likely just a glorified power strip with 8 outlets just passing on whatever the wall is spitting out. I have found that power conditioners like a Furman PL PLus, AR15, or a monster pro3500 have improved the sound of my mixes because my gear is now getting the proper, clean power it wants.
...could be your mix, how it was tracked, EQ, etc, etc...
-Chris
http://www.ctmsound.com
http://www.ctmsound.com
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